Rolling With The Stones

The Rolling Stones, commonly referred to as the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band, epitomize everything that’s excessive, lavish, exciting, and powerful about rock music. Here, founding member and bass player Bill Wyman presents an honest and humorous account that serves as a backstage pass to the band’s history, from drug busts, to tax exile, to solo careers. Straight from Wyman’s huge personal archive, “Rolling with the Stones” features previously unreleased letters, photographs, memorabilia, and personal journals. With over 2000 photographs, more than 45 beautifully designed tour spreads, song lists from every show, and biographies on each band member.Of his own choosing, Bill Wyman’s career as a founding member of the Rolling Stones h

Years after his suicide, aged 27, Kurt Cobain remains a vital force in today’s music scene. This lavishly illustrated tribute to Nirvana draws on Rolling Stone magazine’s coverage of the band’s too-brief history.

Let me begin by tempering my comments with the fact that I’ve long been a fan of the Stones (going back to my garage-band days in the late 60’s), so I began this book with a sincere interest in understanding the “phenomenon” we know as “The Rolling Stones”. After just a short while, I was absolutely blown away by Bill Wyman’s thorough, loving, and fantasically annotated effort. Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the complete history (warts and all) of one of the world’s great rock bands. I am amazed that the book comes across as objective, and Wyman never sounds as if he’s boasting or bragging…he just lays out the history of the group, song-by-song and performance-by-performance. Information is presented in somewhat of a scrapbook format, but this quickly grows on you, as it allows you to skip over items you might not care to view (lists of each forum where the Stones played on each tour), and savor the tidbits of information that are so insightful. Each page holds an incredible amount of information: photographs, background information, side notes, copies of contracts, mini-biographies, discographies, and so on. Very interesting tidbits of information are found almost everywhere….did you know that the famous “Jumping Jack Flash” riff was NOT a Jagger/Richard idea? Lots of clippings from newspapers and other media of the day, in turn condemning or praising the Stones as a group and as individuals. It’s almost like being allowed to view Wyman’s day-by-day scrapbook/diary of what happened as the band went from a bunch of school boys to the greatest rock band left standing. The amazing thing is that I never found myself bored with this volume. Maybe that’s because I’ve always been amazed by the Stones, and perhaps that’s natural for someone who “grew up” with them. So my advice is aimed at those who are sincere Stones fans or those who have a deep interest in the history of the band. This book should pretty much answer all your questions and provide MANY hours of entertainment as you “roll” with the Stones.

This book by ex-Stones bassist Bill Wyman and Richard Havers is one of the best rock books ever; it’s also the most definitive Rolling Stones book. This is the second book by Wyman,his first being 1990’s “Stone Alone”. This book has everything Stones- tour setlists, photos, information on singles, and clippings from newspaper articles. It even tells the real title and the story behind the infamous groupie anthem “Star Star”. It also features a hilarious 1970 Peanuts comic advertising the release of “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out”. The photos here are amazing. But there’s one fact I can’t believe. Who would vote Keith the 9th handsomest man in the world? Ray Charles? This is great bookfor any Stones fan.

I was interested when I found out Bill Wyman was doing another book on the history of the “Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the World.” His first book “Stone Alone” is one the better books I have read on the history of the band. Unfortunately that book ends at the start of the 1970s. Wyman’s new book “Rolling with the Stones” follows the exploits of the band through his entire tenure with the band. Fanatics will enjoy the many pictures of memorabilia from Wyman’s own collection. There are a number of rare photographs including some from when the band members were only kids. Other interesting items include many magazine covers and articles, tour posters, and pictures of rare import single sleeves. Album and single releases include track listings, chart positions and information about the original versions of songs the Stones covered. A general set list of songs played on each tour is included as well as list of tour dates and opening acts for each tour. Wyman makes the book a good read by spicing the book with quotes and stories from fans, friends, family, other fellow musicians and the Stones themselves. Many of the quotes and stories pertain to the memorabilia and photos included in the book. Another great aspect of the book is that since Bill Wyman was involved that book does not focus almost entirely on Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones. The pictures are divided up more evenly among the band members including Ian Stewart. The book is essential to anyone with more than just a passing interest in the Rolling Stones. It was well worth the price especially since I got it on sale.

i bought this book a couple months back thinking, “this is just gonna be another brief book about kurt’s life. the same material every other book has.” i didn’t think that i’d actually get through the whole thing, cos i had heard his story over and over again anyways. i thought it’d be boring. man was i wrong! i couldn’t put it down. halfway through the book, i realized this wasn’t just any plain biography; this was a big colage of kurt’s life: his music, his family, his drug abuse, and his sad death. some people think that kurt was just another junky-musician. but this book proves far beyond a doubt that he was so much more. he was a creative and influential person to all of us (even though some people choose to deny it). after reading this book, i came to the conclusion that i didn’t need to buy any other books about kurt cobain, or nirvana, because all the imformation i needed was right in my hands.

Ironic that the best of many books released in the months after Cobain’s death would be a collection from Rolling Stone, alleged promoters of the “corporate rock” he battled against. The editors of this collection of RS articles wisely chose to make it a true memorial, remembering the past, the good and the bad, while not pontificating uselessly on the meaning of Cobain’s suicide. Many have tried in vain to be artfully profound in the wake of Kurt’s death, magazine writers and newspapermen. This kind of purple prose is luckily absent from COBAIN, and the majority of the articles are very well written. Also included are many wonderful photographs; Kurt with his daughter, the infamous bridge from “Something in the Way”, Kurt with a kitten perched on his shoulder, the beautiful cover, Kurt surrounded by Stargazers during Nirvana’s Unplugged performance. In the rush to publish something in the summer of 1994, the market was saturated with books on Nirvana and Cobain. This one was the best and still is. It leaves questions unanswered, as well it should.

This isn’t a book totally directed at him. It’s a book directed towards the ground breaking music that he made. It’s a combination of past aricles that appeared in previous issues of Rolling Stone and statements that present and former writers and editors wrote about him. It’s a great book. It’s a new insite into Kurt’s strange world. It also gives you a better understanding to where this man was standing in the world when he blew our minds with his incredible music. It’s a must for anyone who likes him, his band or 90’s music in general. I assure you that it would be a pitty for you to pass this book by.